Mineral-washing plant



Deco 4 1923 3,476,243

A. FRANCE MINERAL WASHING PLANT Filed March 1, 1923 separatin PatentedDeco 4, i923.

rattan Frien- PATENT ANTOINEFRANCE, OF LIEGE, BELGIUM.

MINERAL-WASHING PLANT.

Application filed March 1, 1923. Serial No 622,121.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, ANTOINE FRANCE, a subject of the King of theBelgians, residing at Liege, Belgium, 17 Quai St. Leonard, have inventednew and useful Improvements in Mineral-\Vashing Plants, of. which thefollowing is a specification.

The present invention relates to improvements in processes and plant forwashing fine particles of minerals by means of wet sorting apparatus, ofthe kind wherein the water for the said apparatus is supplied underconstant pressure from a constant level tank into which water from asupply cistern is-fed by means of a pump or the like. The washlng ofvery fine particles has heretofore frequently been subject to certaindrawbacks due to the difiiculty of thoroughly wetting or soaking thevery fine particles, the imperfectly soaked particles having a tendencyto swim on the surface of the water thus escaping'the act-ion oi thewater streams Y in the sorting apparatus.

The object of the present invention is principally to remove theaforesaid drawbacks and thus to facilitate and improve the action of thewet sorting apparatus. Wit this object in view, according to the presentinvention, the very fine mineral particles are pumped into the constantlevel tank together with the feed water in such a manner as to causethem to pass through the said tank in a downward direction so that thefine particles which are thoroughly soaked are conveyed, via the base ofthe said tank, towards the sorting apparatus, while the fine particleswhich are still imperfectly soaked pass through the aforesaid tank againin an upward direction under the influence of an adjustable ascendingwater stream obtained in any suitable manner, in order to be ultimatelybrought back from the'upper portion of the constant level tank to thesupply cistern. In this way, the very fine mineral particles arecompelled to pass through a considerable thickness of liquid and areconsequently very unlikely to escape being thoroughly soaked.

The present invention also comprises devices for carrying out the abovementioned method of treatment and in order that the invention may bereadil understood, certain embodiments of the sai devices are, by way ofexample only, illustrated by the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic vertical section through one embodiment of adevice according to the invention, while Fig. 2

shows a similar section through'a modified embodiment of a deviceaccording to the invention.

Referring to Fig. '1 of the drawing a indicates the supply cistern while6 designates a centrifugal or other pump by means of which the feedwater, together with the fine mineral particles is pumped, through theplping o and 0, into the constant level tank d. This tank d is at thebase connected to a pipe 6 for the distribution of the Water necessaryto form the water streams in the wet sorting apparatus such as f and f.The tank d is also provided with a vertical partition 9 adjustable in avertical direction and guided in suitable slides such as h. Thefineparticles, pumped together with the feed water through the piping 0 intothe upper portion of the constant level tank (1, pass through the latterfrom the top towards the bottom on one side of the partition g and thethoroughly soaked particles are discharged at the base of the said tankby way of thepipe e, the said discharge being controlled by means of thecentral valve i provided for the purpose at the base of the tank d. Theparticles which are still insufiiciently soaked, on the other hand, arecaused to pass through the tank 03 again, but from the bottom towardsthe top and on the other side of the partition 9, under the influence ofan adjustable ascending or upward stream obtained by adjusting the valve2' in such a manner as to obtain an excess of the rate of supply by thepump 6 to the tank d over the rate of discharge through said valve 2'which excess will seek escape through an overflow k rovided at the topof the tank d. The ve ocity or thestream may be regulated by means of amovable flap 7' of which the inclination may be adjusted and which isprovided for the purpose at the lower edge of the partition 9, that is.to say at the point where the separation of the articles which arethoroughly soaked and 0 those which are still imperfectly soaked takeslace. These particles still imperfectly soa red, which are generallyag-. glomerated in small masses, are discharged at the top of the tank(1 by way of the overflow pipe is, and are then brought back into thesupply cistern a through the medium of the pipe Z.

Referring to Fig. 2 of the drawing, the

Kit

adjustable vertical partition provided in the constant level tank (Z inthe device according to Figure 1, is here replaced by a cylindricalpartition m which may also be adjusted in a: vertical direction, thesaid cylindrical partition m forming a central channel a of circularcross section by way of which the fine particles which are stillinsufliciently soaked rise in order to be ul-- timately discharged bymeans of an overflow channel is provided for the purpose at the upperend of the cylindrical partition m and which is independent in relationto the constant level tank a7. The particles still imperfectly soakedwhich are discharged by way of the overflow in are, just like thematerials evacuated by way of the overflow pipe is of the deviceaccording to Fig. 1, brought back to the sup ply cistern 0: through asuitable pipe Z.

It should be expressly understood that the invention is not restrictedto the particular specific construction or arrangement of partsillustrated, and that means other than those illustrated for obtainingand regulating the water streams may be adopted Without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claimsI claim:

1. In apparatus for thoroughly soaking the rate of discharge through thebase of the tank in relation to the rate of delivery to the aforesaidcompartment of said tank in such a manner as to obtain an upward streamthrough. the other compartment, an overflow at the top, of the saidother compartment, and means for returning material discharged throughthe said overflow to the aforesaid supply cistern, substantially asdescribed,

2. In apparatus for thoroughly soaking fine particles of mineralspreparatory to their washing by means of wet sorting apparatus, thecombination of: a lower supply cistern, an upper constant level tank, anadjustable vertical partition plate slidably mounted within said tank,an adjustable fiap movablysecured tothe lower edge of said partition.plate; means for pumping the particles to be treated together with waterfrom the supply cistern into the top of one of the compartments formedwithin the aforesaid tank by the said partition plate, a connectionbetween the base of said tank and the sorting apparatus, means on thesaid connection for adjusting the rate of discharge through the base ofthe tank in relation to the rate of delivery of the pumping means intothe aforesaid compartment of the tank in such a manner as to obtain anupward stream through the other compartment, an overflowat the top ofthe said other compartment, and means for returning material dischargedthrough the said overflow to the aforesaid supply cistern.

In testimony whereof I signed hereunto my name in the presence of twosubscrib- 'ing witnesses,

ANTOINE FRANCE. Witnesses MADE Rnnsonnnr, Yvonne Ric-a,

